Perceptions by Gerry Warner

So the oil will flow! Surely, you weren’t surprised? This week’s decision giving the go-ahead to the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline was about as predictable as another Stephen Harper arper arper “no comment” on the Senate expense scandal.

I mean water is wet, the sun rises in the east, the Vancouver Canucks will never win the Stanley Cup. There are some things in life that are just Universal Truths. Get used to it.

What may come as a surprise is that this lifelong environmentalist agrees with the decision. What can I say beyond the fact that I recognize the obvious – the world is addicted to oil. Even George Bush knew that! That’s why he was willing to fight two wars at the same time just to ensure that the world’s biggest consumer of sweet crude would never run out. Mind you the Americans love their wars as much as they love their guns. But let’s get serious about oil. We really have no choice.

Do a bit of research on oil and here’s what you find. According to Forbes Magazine, current world oil consumption is close to 90 million barrels-a-day with each American alone slurping three gallons daily, which is close to a quarter of all the oil produced in the world. But China is in second place and rapidly catching up and we haven’t even mentioned India. And in Canada with less than one per cent of the world’s population we consume 2.2 million barrels of oil daily making us the seventh biggest consumer in the world just ahead of Russia. We’re worse oil gluttons, per capita than Americans, yet some of us lecture the world on oil consumption. A tad hypocritical, don’t you think?

Many British Columbians oppose the Enbridge line because it would lead to oil tankers cruising the B.C. coast. Maybe we should get real because according to the Forbes article 40 per cent of the world’s sea-borne cargo is oil and that oil weighs more than the biomass of all the fish in the ocean. As Forbes puts it, the ocean isn’t full of fish. It’s full of oil tankers! The B.C. share of it is but a drop in the proverbial bucket. Or should I say barrel?

Now, before some of you think of stringing me up, let me borrow a Harper/Nixon line and try to make myself perfectly clear. I’m not in favour of the oil facts I’ve just mentioned; I’m appalled by them. However, I also believe that before we get high and mighty about not dirtying our hands in oil we’d better acknowledge that we live in an oil civilization and here in Canada we’re up to our armpits in it, if not our eyelids. Is the average Canadian prepared to be an oil virgin? Hardly. We use and abuse oil with the best of them. Yet at the same time we’re swimming in fossil fuel, which could do us a lot of good if we handle it properly. The Federal Review Panel that approved the Enbridge line attached close to 200 conditions to its approval to ensure the oil is moved safely. Common sense says oil can be moved more safely by pipeline by than rail or any other means.

Despite this, many in B.C. still oppose Enbridge and are prepared to fight it to the bitter end. They also oppose expansion of the tar sands or any other development that produces greenhouse gases and carbon emissions blamed for global warming. I respect them. But I also can’t help but wonder if they understand the implications of their beliefs.

Saying no to oil is also saying no to our way of life, be it the vehicles we drive, the clothes we wear, the plastics we use, the heat that warms us, the energy that sustains us and so on. Many reject oil, but I see precious few of them abandoning their vehicles for the near empty transit buses cruising the streets of Cranbrook. If more of us cared about oil pollution those buses wouldn’t be nearly so empty. Let’s face it. In our day-to-day behavior, few, if any of us, say no to oil. We’ve all got the addiction. Only a rank hypocrite would deny it.

Here’s how Forbes puts it: “Modern civilization would collapse in a matter of months if oil stopped flowing . . . Unfortunately, the scale makes it next-to-impossible to technologically disrupt the oil industry.”

So you’re opposed to the Enbridge line. Quite possibly, you’d better think again. Merry Christmas!

– Gerry Warner is a retired journalist and a Cranbrook City Councillor. His opinions are his own.

(Column illustrations by Ian Cobb)

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